• Stud/Voltage Finder

    From RJH@21:1/5 to All on Mon Apr 1 22:24:32 2024
    Any recommendations?

    My 20-odd year old Lidl seems to have developed a mind of its own, giving random false positives and wildly sensitive positives. The reviews at Screwfix etc seem to be mixed.

    --
    Cheers, Rob, Sheffield UK

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  • From Thomas Prufer@21:1/5 to RJH on Tue Apr 2 07:58:50 2024
    On Mon, 1 Apr 2024 22:24:32 -0000 (UTC), RJH <patchmoney@gmx.com> wrote:

    Any recommendations?

    My 20-odd year old Lidl seems to have developed a mind of its own, giving >random false positives and wildly sensitive positives. The reviews at Screwfix >etc seem to be mixed.

    I have an older Fluke and a newer non-Fluke -- I like the newer one better. It beeps in addition to lighting up, so I can stick it somewhere, go to the panel and flip breakers until it stops beeping. Sometimes useful if no line of sight.


    Thomas Prufer

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  • From RJH@21:1/5 to Thomas Prufer on Tue Apr 2 07:55:47 2024
    On 2 Apr 2024 at 06:58:50 BST, Thomas Prufer wrote:

    On Mon, 1 Apr 2024 22:24:32 -0000 (UTC), RJH <patchmoney@gmx.com> wrote:

    Any recommendations?

    My 20-odd year old Lidl seems to have developed a mind of its own, giving
    random false positives and wildly sensitive positives. The reviews at Screwfix
    etc seem to be mixed.

    I have an older Fluke and a newer non-Fluke -- I like the newer one better. It
    beeps in addition to lighting up, so I can stick it somewhere, go to the panel
    and flip breakers until it stops beeping. Sometimes useful if no line of sight.


    Thanks - but not sure they do them anymore, I can only see voltage detectors
    on their web site. And likely to be too expensive for me, even second hand.

    I'd need at least metal and voltage (like my current Lidl - doesn't do studs, my mistake) - stud would be nice too.

    --
    Cheers, Rob, Sheffield UK

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  • From alan_m@21:1/5 to RJH on Tue Apr 2 09:26:49 2024
    On 01/04/2024 23:24, RJH wrote:
    Any recommendations?

    My 20-odd year old Lidl seems to have developed a mind of its own, giving random false positives and wildly sensitive positives. The reviews at Screwfix
    etc seem to be mixed.



    My house is built 1908 with lathe and plaster walls where the plaster
    can be an inch thick in place. I have various stud finders and none of
    them find studs reliably giving both false positives and failing to find anything in the wall.

    I've had a lot more success with a Ziron M40 metal detector which can
    find the nails in the lathe which in turn are nailed into studs/joists.
    However owing to the thickness of the plaster, and maybe the old plaster composition, this is not always 100% reliable. And, before anyone
    suggests it, the magnet method doesn't work at all except on one wall
    where the old plaster was knocked off and replaced with plasterboard and
    then skimmed.

    I have two multi-purpose stud finders that claim to detect voltage. On a
    wall that has been chased out for wiring, the chase plastered back over
    and then tiled these also completely fail to detect mains voltage
    beneath the surface. The problem with voltage detectors is that people
    using them and not finding mains voltage/wires assume that it is safe to
    drill.

    If you view Youtube videos on these products they are always
    demonstrated under favourable conditions but read the (Amazon) reviews
    and there are many low score reviews indicating that they possibly don't
    work that well in real world condition.

    --
    mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

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  • From Andy Burns@21:1/5 to RJH on Tue Apr 2 12:54:29 2024
    On 01/04/2024 23:24, RJH wrote:

    Any recommendations?

    I'd recommend against the Bosch GMS120, it gives both false positive and
    false negative readings, for volts and studs :-(

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  • From Theo@21:1/5 to RJH on Wed Apr 3 11:46:44 2024
    RJH <patchmoney@gmx.com> wrote:
    Any recommendations?

    My 20-odd year old Lidl seems to have developed a mind of its own, giving random false positives and wildly sensitive positives. The reviews at Screwfix etc seem to be mixed.

    I had good results with a Zircon - it found studs where all the other tricks (magnets, tapping, 1980s stud finder etc) had failed. Can't remember the
    model but it was yellow and looked like a computer mouse. Might have been:

    https://www.amazon.co.uk/Zircon-StudSensor-e50-Electronic-Finder/dp/B002R5AVVY/

    but they no doubt have newer models now.

    Theo

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